Business people and employees have to travel a lot. At the time of making a trip, they use their credit cards to book air tickets, taxis, hotels, etc. These expenses need to be reimbursed by their companies at a future date. To tell the company how much they have spent on the entire trip, inclusive of everything, employees need to prepare a Trip Expense Report.
Preparing a Trip Expense Report is essential after a trip is made. It is a day to day report of the expenses incurred during the trip. If it is a business trip, the report should be made as soon as possible and in great detail. These expenses need to be related to the business trip. If you make a detour on your back to visit your hometown for personal reasons, this expense should not be added to the Trip Expense Report.
Most companies have a rule about when to submit a Trip Expense Report. It is usually within 10 business days of the trip being completed. The Trip Expense Report should be an itemized document that records per day claims and expenses. The Trip Expense Report should be supplemented by the original and itemized receipts, if need be. If a travel advance had been taken and the trip expenses exceed that amount it is usually refunded after tax deductions, after you submit the report. A travel expense report should be signed by the traveler and the person who has the authority to approve all the expenses made during the trip.
To document all the expenses while on the trip, have an envelope labeled travel. Gather all the receipts and put them in the envelope. Label the receipts if necessary. Enter cash transactions in a diary with the brief description of it, like newspapers. This will make the job of creating the Trip Expense Report easier.
Most companies have a format for a Trip Expense Report. It looks like an itemized bill with the date description and amount. There are other details that need to be added to it. It should have your name and employee id, the department you work in and the name of your manager. The itemized section should include the date the expenditure was made, the description of the expenditure, the air and transport that you used to get to the destination. Moreover, the lodging, the fuel or mileage you consumed, the phone bill, the meals that you consumed and the tips that you gave, your entertainment costs, and other items, if any are also included.
Other expenses should have another itemized section where you put in the date, the description, and the amount spent. Add up all the costs in the amount section of Trip Expense Report. Write the total amount spent in the subtotal section. If you had received an advance, put it in the advances section. Now subtract the subtotal of expenses from the advance. That should be your total reimbursement. The purpose of this itemized document is to discern whether the employee, while on a business trip, misused the fund provided by the company.
